Tim Koppenhaver grew up in Maryland, where in the woods behind his suburban home, a passion for the outdoors was born. Family trips to beaches in Florida, the woods of Pennsylvania, lakes in New Hampshire, and the aridness of Arizona drove that love even more. Following the advice of a college professor, he started journaling in 1988 and has not stopped writing since. Most passionately, he writes about outdoor travel. In 2016, he took a sabbatical to visit The Nature Conservancy preserves in Virginia and across the country writing several articles about those experiences. In 2019, he established the Shenandoah Saw-whet newsletter – a quarterly publication of the Virginia Master Naturalists Shenandoah Chapter and continues to serve as editor. Tim enjoys living in Virginia and considers it a microcosm of America. Its four-season weather and geographic diversity – from shorelines to mile-high mountains – are a literary inspiration